Change 4 m² into cm².

Step by step

The question

Question: change 4 m² to square centimeters.

1 Change the length

First we find how many square centimeters fit in 1 square meter.

This square is 1 meter on each side.

1 meter is 100 centimeters.

So each side is 100 centimeters long.

2 Change the area

Each side is 100 centimeters.

So 100 small squares fit in a row, and there are 100 rows.

Each small square is 1 square centimeter.

We draw only a few of them.

So 1 square meter is 100 centimeters times 100 centimeters.

100 times 100 is 10,000.

So 1 m² = 10,000 cm².

Not 100: the 100 comes in twice, once for each side.

3 Multiply

Each square meter is 10,000 square centimeters.

We have 4 of them, so we multiply.

The small squares are tiny, so we need more of them.

Careful!

Times 100 only changes a length.

A square has two sides to change: times 100, and times 100 again.

10,000 has 4 zeros.

So we write 4 zeros after 4.

So 4 m² = 40,000 cm².

4 Check

Let's check: go back the other way.

Divide by 10,000.

We get 4 square meters again.

So it is right!

Let's look back.

First: change the length.

Then: change the area.

Then: multiply.

Last: check.